Sleeping so close to such thick Magic in the air proved for a restless night of sleep. Megan found herself unable to fall asleep and lay for most of the night awake. To keep herself occupied, she kept watch over Alexia who was sleeping in her arms. When thin fingers of sunlight brushed across the tent, she slid carefully out of the cot and looked over and saw Jack was not sleeping in his cot.

Having not seen him go out, she stepped outside of the tent to find Jack staring up at the sky with a weird look. "Is everything alright?" Megan asked Jack in concern for him.

He looked down for a second then at her, "Yeah, just had a weird feeling. Whatever it was, it's gone now. We should be leaving soon, are you all set to head into the labyrinth?"

"All that we need to do at the moment is apply the Magic Block. Do you happen to have the map for the labyrinth? I would like to take a look to make sure we don't get lost."

Jack had an annoyed look and sighed "I earnestly tried several times to get it from Lord Attomas. He has rebuffed all my attempts. Not even Lady Niadas has gotten a look at the map. We will have to follow his lead, just make sure you don't get separated. I do not know if I can guide you back out if you do leave the group."

"Understood, I will make sure that doesn't happen." Megan said and went back into the tent to awaken Alexia.

A strand of lustrous hair had fallen over Alexia's face, smiling Megan brushed it aside. That feeling of familiarity struck her once again. It had been popping up occasionally since she met Alexia, but she wasn't sure why she felt so familiar. Yet it felt so right when they had gotten together, like they had been made for each other. Leaning down she brushed her lips against Alexia's.

Her odd eyes fluttered open, and she grinned up at Megan. "Morning love. Time to get going?"

"Afraid it is, no time to sleep in. Before we start to take down the tent, we need to apply our Magic Block. Unless you want to give everyone a show of a lifetime."

Alexia smirked and said "If Jack wasn't here last night, I would have given you a show." Alexia sat up and the bottle of the Magic Block popped out. "Do you think you can help apply it to my back?"

"Sure." Megan answered. "I'll do yours and you can do mine."

Getting a bit of the lotion onto her hands, she looked at Alexia's back. On it was a tattoo of a turtle that looked happy. She began to rub the block lotion into her lovers back. "That feels strange, like I'm covering my ears with my hands." Alexia said.

"Yeah, since you deal with magic so much being cut off from the mana in the air might be hard to adjust for you at first." Megan said as she continued. Soon she had wiped all over her lovers back, and said "It's my turn babe."

Megan took off her top and then felt Alexia's warm hands on her back. She found herself relaxing under the short massage, and sighed as Alexia finished up. Megan felt Alexia's breath on her neck and a kiss on her neck. "When this expedition is over I want us to spend a few days relaxing. We need some time alone together."

Megan smiled and said "Sure, that sounds good." Standing up, Megan finished gently rubbing the block into her skin. Then she got dressed in her armor. Alexia put on her slime armor and set to black. 

Soon after Megan was helped by Alexia to put away the tent, and Jack came by to put it away. Lord Attomas walked to the center of camp, and Megan saw those weird stones of his once more flying around him. "Alright, we will be shortly going into the maze, I will be taking the lead and guide us carefully through the maze. If you go off path, you will get lost, and most likely die."

He looked around and nodded "We won't be able to bring our horses inside so I will be leaving them to the care of three of my retainers. Is that okay with you Princess Falean?"

"Do what you wish, as Snort will be accompanying us." She said in response.

"I am afraid some of the tunnels get quite tight. A horse of Snorts size might not be able to fit."

Princess Falean said "Do not worry, for Snort can squeeze into tight spaces. Watch." Turning to Snort, Falean said "Snort go ahead and get smaller."

Megan watched in horror as Snort began to compress. Snort's bones began to snap, and it let out a loud groan that almost sounded like a man's voice. Snort puked out a stream of foul black liquid as it grew smaller and soon was the size of a large dog. In this form, Snort looked like some kind of freakish monster. Sharp teeth radiated from its jaw and its eye's rolled around in its head madly.

Lord Attomas frowned and shrugged "Very well. Snort may come with us. From my reports it does not appear monsters roam the interior of the Maze. However, there are reports of encountering several goblins on the other side of the maze. So Sir Jack, I will need your assistance once again when we get to the other side."

"I can do that." Jack glanced cautiously at Megan and she nodded reassuringly at him. "Is there anything else we should be aware of in the Labyrinth?"

"You may hear and see things that will make you want to walk off the path. Don't." Lord Attomas said. "if you are all ready please follow behind me." Lord Attomas walked towards the cave entrance with a servant harpy helping the two currently pregnant monsterkin and the ogre monsterkin with a baby behind him.

Lady Niadas waved for Jack to go ahead of her and Megan followed with the party after him. Lady Niadas took the rear with Marden with her. Yukali walked besides Megan. As they entered, a strange pressure washed over Megan, and she briefly heard the boisterous laughter of children in the distance.

She at first naturally thought the intricate maze would be unlit, but to her surprise several torches lined the walls brilliantly illuminating their path. The walls were strangely carved out, and as they went deeper seemed to morph into walls lined with bricks. The path seemed almost nonsensical to her.

For instance once, Lord Attomas took four right turns in a row and when he took a fifth, Megan was genuinely alarmed to see a different path they were walking down then the first time. Strange sounds came from the paths they did not take as they passed. On one occasion she swore she saw her father waving at her from one of the tunnels only to disappear when she took a closer look.

The Magic in the air became thicker almost five times as normal. When it was this thick, strange glows started to be seen in the corner of her eye. One tunnel they went down seemed to have blood dripping off the walls, and screams of pain came from hallways.

Naturally turning she saw Alexia frowning and asked her "Doing alright?"

"Yeah, I just hate to think this place might be where my brother died. Did he get lost in here and wonder around till his death?"

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For an hour they walked, and some of the tunnels were veritable nightmares to walk down. Sometimes they went down on a slope, or climbed a set of stairs. When Megan passed another tunnel opening she heard a chuckling and saw a woman beckoning her to come over.

Yukali shook her and Megan was startled that she had stepped towards the tunnel. Focusing forward they continued on. The pressure to step off the path grew stronger. Every side path Megan passed she had to fight not to look down. Whispers in her head promised untold fortune and pleasure should she just step away from the party.

Soon even the walls were promising things to each of them. All they needed to do was step off the path. Each cautious step Megan took, she struggled to tell if she was even following the right path. She was startled one time when she saw several Yukali's walking down several paths.

It was only by Alexia helping her that she was able to choose the right path. They found themselves on a path, on both sides was a massive gorge, and Megan could feel dread nearly overwhelm her. The path shrank as Megan walked on it. Soon it was only a few feet across.

A dread overwhelmed her, and she struggled to stay on the path. A thought crossed her mind, what if she just stepped off the path. The dread would end, and she would be free. Shaking her head she looked forward and continued forward. As she stepped forward, she was startled to find herself in a large room.

Lord Attomas said "We are now at the center of the Maze."

The room was large, it was surrounded by dozens of doors. Lord Attomas continued "We have passed the major part of the Labyrinth. We won't be facing the hypnotic Illusion spell anymore. There is just this final part and we will be in the room that leads to the city."

Jack said "Are we getting close to where the scouts encountered the Goblins?"

"No that's past the next room of the maze. This stage is different from the first stage. We each need to choose a door and go through. From the reports I have received it will present you with a test. Whether you fail or pass, you will go through to the other side. However, all doors have a requirement of only one person. Except those three large doors." 

Lord Attomas pointed to three larger doors in the middle. Above the doors, carved in the rock face, could be seen a picture of a pregnant woman. "Those three are reserved already."

"Do all the doors lead to the same place?" Jack asked.

Lord Attomas nodded "Yes, though we may take different amounts of time to make it through the trial. We may have to camp in case it takes one of us a while to get through. The door to the city will not open until we are all through."

"Is there no risk?" Jack asked again.

"No, though you do gain benefits in the city if you do manage to pass." Lord Attomas said.

"Why is this the first time I'm properly hearing of this?" Lady Niadas said hotly.

"Why should I have told you? I'm the leader, and I do not need to let you know every step of the path we need to take."

"I saw the report made to the king, it mentioned nothing of this." She said.

"Yes, I had removed this part, as well as several others before it made it to the King." 

"You did what?" Jadai said "That is madness brother. You risk the family by your actions. That could be considered treason."

Lord Attomas said "Then bring it up with the King the next time you see him. You three go through the doors for you." Lord Attomas looked at the two pregnant monsterkin and the Ogre woman Alice.

Alice looked hesitant and said "Lord Attomas, this shows a pregnant woman, are you sure this is safe for the baby?"

"You will be fine. Now go through."

Alice nodded respectfully "Yes, My Lord." She stepped through the door along with the others. 

Lord Attomas reached up and instantly caught his stones that were flying around his head and placed them into his pouch. "Magic Items will not work in the test. If you try to use one, you are likely to lose it." With that he walked through a door.

Jack looked at the group and said "I don't know what you will see in there but be careful." One by one they all chose a door and walked into it. Megan and Alexia were the last two and Megan smiled at Alexia and they seamlessly stepped through different doors at the same time. 

She found she was no longer underground but walking through a forest. As she was walking along, she heard strange sinister whispers in the background. Then from a tree in front of her stepped out an outrageously beautiful woman, with a tail and some horns. 

Her skin was a light red, and she smiled at Megan. To her profound horror she instantly recognized the woman's face as her own. "Who are you?" Megan cried out.

"I am you, rather I am you unleashed." Succubus Megan walked towards her. "I tasted the seed of man and now look at me. Can you feel how powerful I am? I bring men to their knees."

"You are not me. I am not attracted to men."

The Succubus walked around her and trailed a finger on her skin, and Megan found she was now naked. "Is that so?" It whispered next to her ear. "You do love the taste of pussy, but what you crave far more is the taste of submission."

Megan pushed the red skinned version of herself away and said "I will not be cajoled into doing something I don't want to do."

"You haven't imagined it? Bringing a man to his knees making him worship you at your feet? Look at what you choose to be."

"I am only interested in playing with women."

"So you tell yourself."

The Succubus walked forwards and said "I will give you a choice. You can walk through that door, and the trial will be over and you will have failed. Or you can follow me and I will show you what you are missing out on."

A large door appeared near her. An intense temptation to follow the Succubus gripped her. She found she was stepping towards the succubus only for fear to take over and she turned to the door and reached for the handle.

"What a shame, I naturally thought you would be willing to voluntarily join me." A seductive voice said, and when Megan looked she saw an attractive woman she didn't recognize standing where her copy had been. The scent of lust filled the air, and Megan nearly changed her mind.

As Megan gripped the door handle and turned the woman said "I will see you soon. I will convince you to join my side then."

With that Megan stepped through the door and found she was in a new room. Looking back she saw that there was only one door to come through. Ahead of her was a towering door and in front of it was Jack standing taking a look at it. He turned and spotted Megan. "Ah you are the second person to come out. How was your trial?"

"Weird. It didn't feel like a trial. What about yours?" 

"I didn't have one. I stepped through the door, and it instantly brought me here. Maybe it's not designed to test Avatars." Jack shrugged.

Over time the others slowly walked out of the door. Soon there were only two left in the trial, Yukali and Alice. Megan was in the middle of a conversation with Alexia when Alice walked out of the door and let out a cry of grief. Looking over she discovered the woman weeping over the bundle. Concerned Megan walked over and saw the baby boy looked gray skinned. 

"Maetrin, we need you over here!" Megan called the healer over.

Maetrin ran over and took a look over the baby and the others crowded around. "My god, all of his life has been drained, along with his soul!" Maetrin said stunned. 

"That's a shame. I thought for sure there was some leeway. Oh well." Lord Attomas shrugged and walked away.

"Oh fucking well?" Jadai said fiercely and grabbed Lord Attomas "That was your son. My nephew and all you can say is oh well?" Jadai shoved him against a wall.

"Is this where you kill me?" Lord Attomas sneered down at his brother.

"I just might. You have been an incredible piece of shit, maybe it's time I scrapped you off my shoe." Jadai growled.

At that key moment Yukali walked out and she was the last one out. When she stepped out a loud bell rang and the large doors began opening revealing a massive chamber within. Megan could see a city had been carved out within, and a huge light in the ceiling.

"Go ahead and kill me, you only doom yourself and the others. If you genuinely want to live you need me." Lord Attomas said, looking down at Jadai.

In the distance Megan could see the road was becoming green. Confused she said "What is that?"

Telvin carefully looked and said "Those are goblins. A shit ton of them." To their horror they could witness countless thousands of goblins racing towards them.

"What is it going to be, brother?" Lord Attomas said.